Moldovans land in Lodi

Thursday

Feb 13, 2014 at 12:01 AM

LODI - Against a backdrop of increasing tensions between the United States and Russia and unrest in Ukraine, four visitors from the former Soviet republic of Moldova toured Lodi area wineries, restaurants, tasting rooms and hotels on Wednesday.

Reed Fujii

LODI - Against a backdrop of increasing tensions between the United States and Russia and unrest in Ukraine, four visitors from the former Soviet republic of Moldova toured Lodi area wineries, restaurants, tasting rooms and hotels on Wednesday.

The group is in the midst of a 22-day visit to America seeking an exchange of ideas, opportunities for new export markets and potential for direct foreign investment, under the auspices of the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program.

It's also a visitor exchange, in a sense. John Kerry stopped in Moldova on Dec. 4, the first U.S. secretary of state to do so in 20 years, and toured a winery, wine being one of that country's key export products.

Moldovan wine was embargoed in September by Russia, which had been the largest market for Moldova's wineries. While Russian officials proclaimed impurities in the wine, many observers say it was retaliation for Moldova's turn to the West; it recently approved a trade pact with the European Union.

That embargo, the third imposed by Russia in recent years, is hitting hard, said Constantin Sibov, chairman of the Tomai Wine Estate, a leading Moldovan winery.

"Economically, Moldova is at a standstill right now," he said through an interpreter during a stop at the Lodi Wine & Visitor Center. "Our attempt to enter the European wine market will take time, because the European public is not familiar with our wines."

While the United States may become a very good partner in boosting Moldovan business and wine-making practices, Sibov said it would hard place to try to sell wine.

He said business people such as himself must leave it to politicians to resolve issues such as the Russian embargo and unrest in Moldova's neighbor Ukraine, where opposition demonstrations were triggered by the government's failure to approve an EU trade deal.

Wednesday's Lodi visit was primarily aimed at showing off the area's rapidly growing and vibrant wine tourism, with stops at Barsetti Vineyards and Velvet Grill Restaurant in Galt, as well as Abundance Vineyards, Woodbridge Winery and the Dancing Fox winery and restaurant, among others.

At the visitor center, Stuart Spencer, program manager for the Lodi Winegrape Commission, explained the intricacies of a grape-grower financed program that helped boost area wineries and wine-tasting venues from eight to 80 in the past 20 years. And Russ Munson, owner of the adjoining Wine & Roses hotel and spa talked about how that growth has bolstered his own business, both in attracting visitors and hosting winery corporate events.

"Everything we do integrates with the wine industry," he said.

Ivan Coltuclu, executive director of Bembeiz, a hotel and tourism center in Moldova, said he admired some of the interior touches he saw in the Wine & Roses hotel rooms and at the Abundance Vineyards tasting room.

"I liked it very much," he said through an interpreter. "I have some ideas to redo rooms in my own hotel in the same style."